Big Sexy Talk
Highly commended in the Irish Podcast Awards 2023 – Best Sex & Relationships podcast
Do you remember all the family gatherings spent discussing the joys of sex around the dinner table? Or the classes in school where your RE teacher showed you how to put a condom on a demonstrator? No? REALLY! If, like us, you didn’t have those cosy conversations about sex growing up, then this is the podcast for you! Big Sexy Talk is brought to you by Informing Choices NI. It is produced in mini-series format, with each collection of episodes focusing on a different area of sexual and reproductive health. We conduct in-depth interviews with key influencers, and provide information on sexual and reproductive health services. Join us on a journey as we create a culture of openness about sexual and reproductive health and empower people with the information they need to make informed choices. After all this is a sexual health podcast, so it is.
Big Sexy Talk
2.01: (Mary Crawford) - 'Mummy said here’s a letter for you'
The opening episode of series two contains an in-depth interview with Mary Crawford. Mary was the CEO of the Brook Advisory Clinic in Northern Ireland for 25 years, and oversaw the organisations transition to Common Youth before retiring in 2018. She is a veteran pro-choice campaigner, and a Trustee of Informing Choices NI.
Mary reflects on the sex education she received growing up; being involved in abortion rights campaigns as a student in the 1970s; running personal development courses at Youth Action; the opening of the Brook Advisory Clinic in Belfast in 1992; the impact of protests and being targeted within her local area; meeting with former Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam MP; delivering relationships and sexuality education (RSE) programmes in community settings; providing sexual health services to young men; the decline in teenage pregnancy rates; and what constitutes good RSE.
If you would like support around a sexual health issue you can call the Sexual Health Helpline on 028 9031 6100.
Useful links
https://informingchoicesni.org/
https://commonyouth.com/
Resources
An Early Day Motion from 1991 regarding the proposed establishment of a Brook Advisory Centre in Belfast
News articles
A BBC News article regarding the firebombing of the Ulster Pregnancy Advisory Association which references the letters sent to Mary Crawford's neighbours
A Belfast Telegraph article regarding the provision of young men's sexual health clinics by Brook NI
A Guardian article regarding relationships and sexuality education in Northern Ireland
A platform piece by Mary Crawford in the agendaNi publication regarding sexual health in the 21st century
